I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, and I don’t normally do posts like this, but I thought I’d give it a go and use it as a chance to look back and think ahead. Plus, I figured if I write them down, and show them to the world, there will be more of a motivation to actually do them.

Be better at responding to e-mails.

Just before I came to the US in August, I set up this blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, as I thought it gave me a bit more flexibility than writing the same e-mail to different people. However, I’m well aware that hardly anyone who I intended actually reads this, and people still email or Facebook message me. As a result, when people email me, I find it difficult, and to be honest, tedious, to send an email that contains the same things as I wrote in a blog.

Have a go at saving some money.

UNR don’t really pay me that much, basically just enough to cover my living expenses. But I’m going to have a go at saving $100 a paycheck, so I can do fun stuff I have planned for the coming few months, like skydiving.

Eat out less.

The thing about the US is that it’s really cheap to eat out, and eat out well. Meals here are about the same in £ as they are in $, so roughly half the price. Mix that in with the fact that buying groceries in here is really expensive, poor quality, and difficult to find many things, eating out is really tempting.

Don’t judge people so quickly.

I have a nasty habit of making my mind up about people within a few minutes of knowing them, and if I don’t like them, I don’t bother. So this year, I’m going to give people more of a chance, just in case I’m wrong.

Work harder at Uni.

I’m going back to Queen’s in September, and it’s going to be final year. No resits, no screwing up. I need a 2:1 to do anything I want to do in the future. Time to knuckle down. No more last minute cramming either!

Continue improving my writing skills.

That’s part of the reason I started this blog. I noticed that when I was writing papers at Uni, my writing probably wasn’t as good as it could have been, and it still isn’t great.

Get good at snowboarding.

I tried snowboarding a few weeks ago, and I loved it. But I was bad at it. So, in the next few months, I want to take advantage of both living near so many ski resorts, and the good snow.

Do something totally crazy.

I’m not sure what this is going to be yet. All I know is that I want to do something really, really crazy. Suggestions?

I’m hoping that I stick to at least some of these - they’re not so challenging that they’re unachievable.

For you cynics out there, here is the science behind why so many New Year’s Resolutions fail…

Photo from Flickr user solgrim.

For the third time in just under 2 weeks, I found myself in San Francisco.

I love this city, I really do. It’s the first city I’ve been to that I can imagine myself living in for a long time. It has everything - no matter who you are, no matter what you’re into, San Francisco has something for you. It’s a place where no-one cares what you do or how you act, you can just be yourself - and I can’t think of any other city I’ve been to that has that same ethos.

After a fairly horrendous drive from Reno, thanks to some completely pointless roadworks, we arrived in the city, and checked into our hostel. Originally, I wanted to stay in the hostel I’d stayed at with Sean, despite it being a bit dirty and uncomfortable, it had a great location near Union Square. However, that was all booked up, with it being New Year’s, so we opted for the other HI hostel, City Center. It tuned out that just off Union Square is a touch ghetto-like, but the hostel itself was fantastic - much more comfortable than the other one. The only downside were the 2 people staying in our dorm that insisted on getting up early and rummaging around the room chatting to each other, while the rest of us were trying to sleep after the late New Years Eve.

Melissa and I had come to San Francisco to see The Slackers at Slim’s, so we went in search of 11th Street. That turned out more difficult than we had anticipated, but after re-fuelling on some delicious pizza, we found it eventually. They had a bizarre system for determining who was under 21… if you’re over 21, you get a stamp on one hand, and if you’re under 21, you get a stamp on both hands. Which meant it was incredibly easy to wash one stamp off, to be left with one, and all of a sudden you’re 21. Support came from The Struts (who were okay, but a bit samey), and local band The Impalers (who were fantastic, and in my opinion better than The Slackers). It was a great gig, there was a good vibe, with it being New Years Eve, and a nice mix of people. Anyways, it was a different way to see in the New Year, and we had a fantastic time.

New Years Day, and feeling a bit groggy we headed to the Castro in search of somewhere to eat. Ihad my first Mexican breakfast, and it was delicious - scrambled egg, with onions and peppers. Then we went to the Chocolate shop on Castro for a hot chocolate. Still feeling somewhat sleepy, we caught the streetcar to Fisherman’s Wharf and walked along the ocean front. We ended up looking in some art gallerys, and saw some work by Dr. Seuss, which was cool. Feeling in need of some warming up, we had an Irish coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe, supposedly the first bar in the US to serve the drink. For dinner, we decided to go exploring, and ended up in North Beach. North Beach is essentially Little Italy, jam-packed with Italian restaurants and gelato stores. We ate at Ristorante Ideale, which was amazing, especially the pumpkin ravioli. Highly recommended! Walking back to downtown, we stopped off at the cinema and saw Doubt, which wasn’t as good as I’d hoped…

Friday, our last day in San Francisco, began with walking to the Financial District to go up the Bank of America building, but, as last time, it was shut, and didn’t open until 3pm. I wanted ti go to the Moscone Center, where Macworld will be held in a few days, to see if I could see anything through the windows, but all I could get was the IDG banners on the street, which said “Even the small talk will be big” - perhaps hinting at the long-rumoured iPhone nano? Maybe… but these were IDG banners, and not Apple ones, so I guess we’ll have to wait a few days to find out… Instead, we found ourselves in Chinatown, and did some tea-tasting for a few hours, thenbought some very cheap mugs/tea/therapy balls from a store. Fairly tired, we went back to North Beach, ate, had coffee at Caffe Trieste (the home of the Beat generation) and went back to the car. Our final stop was at Haight Ashbury, which seems a lot like the lanes in Brighton. We didn’t stay long, as it was busy, and we wanted to head home.

Overall, a fantastic few days in San Francisco! I really do love this city, and I feel like I know my way round it well now. Can’t wait to go back, I really can’t get enough of it.

• I moved to the US.
• I discovered I can’t say no to anything.
• I left some people I love very much behind.
• I’m terrible at replying to e-mails.
• Guardian.co.uk became my most visited website.
• Had a few crappy relationships, and had to end a very good one.
• I saw Barack Obama. Twice.
• I got an iPhone, and now I’m not sure how I’d cope without it. 
• I started blogging.
• I failed my first module at Queen’s. Along with more than half the class.
• I saw Madonna live. And for free.
• Felt truly happy for the first time.

And many, many more :)

Happy New Year!

Christmas in Reno was certainly interesting. It was strange not being surrounded by family and doing all the usual things. 

I met Sean at San Francisco Int’l last Thursday, not really being sure what to expect. I’d dated, and was dating other guys, but I promised myself and him that it wouldn’t be awkward. Turned out, that problem got solved fairly quickly, which in a way I’m glad about, because it meant that the next week or so was a lot of fun.

I wrote about what we got up to San Francisco and snowboarding in my previous posts, so I guess I’ll just fill this post with the other stuff we got up to…

One of the things I absolutely love Reno for is it’s eating out. It’s pubs, bars and clubs may be dire, but Reno does dining well. One of my favourite places to eat in Reno is Pneumatic Diner, on 1st and Ralston. It’s fairly difficult to find, it located upstairs in what seems to be a standard apartment block. It’s worth the effort though. Everything on the menu is organic, and the main reason I like it, everything is also vegetarian - a hard thing to find in Reno. The staff are usually very friendly and helpful, and the menu is varied. The food is freshly cooked, and is generally healthy. I had the super burrito, or whatever it’s called. It was lovely, though not really a burrito… Anyway, if you fancy a change, go try Pneumatic Diner. Oh, and I forgot the mention, the decor is really funky.

I also introduced Sean to one of the wonders of Reno - all-you-can-eat sushi. I’ve tried a few places in the past few months - Sushi Plus, Sushi Pier, but for me, Sushi Lover on W 5th is by far the best. For $25 (the standard price around Reno it seems), you can have all you can eat sushi. The service in the place is excellent, and if you go, make sure you get the renee chips and the peanut roll - they’re amazing. I’m still a little unsure of why Reno is so big on sushi though…

I took Sean on a tour of downtown. It’s interesting taking people around Reno, I don’t think visitors are sure what to make of it. You take them along Virginia to the casinos and the arch, and they don’t say anything, probably because it’s so tacky. Certainly for visitors from the UK, it’s likely they’ve never actually been anywhere quite as horrid as downtown Reno. But then you go along 1st, to the newly developed area, and it’s like a totally different city - with coffee shops like Dreamer’s and Java Jungle and shops like La Bussola and Dharma Books, all against the backdrop of the Truckee River, it feels like an entirely different world. And, let’s not forget the Bruka Theater, and the Pioneer Events Center for a bit of culture…

Other than this, Christmas was generally chilled. I needed that, just to hang out with someone from back home - I was going crazy knowing that there wasn’t anyone physically near me that I could trust, so it was nice to have that, if only for 10 days.

Yesterday, Sean and I decided to go snowboarding. What a fantastic way to spend Christmas Eve.

We began the day bright and early to catch the shuttle bus to Mt. Rose. We arrived after about an hours journey to the Mt. Rose base, and sorted out our equipment. The package we got was an absolute bargain - $59 for snowboard and boots rental, a 1 1/2 hour lesson, and a pass for the 2 green lifts. Fantastic value! Sean and I began the lesson with a few other people, and tried to get the hang of turning and stopping on the flat, before venturing up “Little Jenny” and having a go going down the hill. It was difficult, but we soon began to get to grips with it (all be it, Sean better than I).

We went up and down the smallest slope (I wary about calling it a hill, because it wasn’t), and then got cold because we weren’t particularly well kitted out. We went inside, got a hot chocolate and had a good chat. After about an hour, we looked outside the window to see a snowstorm, and no-one outside skiing or snowboarding.

I’ll defiantly be coming back and having another go at snowboarding, it’s something I want to try and get good at, seeing as I have the chance of living so near so many resorts. I’ll be a pro in no time ;)

San Francisco was interesting to say the least.

Got the Greyhound bus from Reno to San Francisco, which was surprisingly comfortable. And the scenery was as always, stunning. Wish I’d taken some pictures, but I was too lazy :P

Went to SFO (after getting on the wrong BART train and getting thoroughly confused), and met Sean. It was an awkward wait, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew it could be awkward - we only broke up because I was coming to Reno, and I’d been seeing other guys since then. But anyway, it turned out to be anything but awkward - we got on just as well as we did before. It’s fun. I’m very much enjoying seeing him again :) Even though it’s going to be tough saying goodbye again…

Saturday came, and Sean and I went to Alcatraz. I’d booked the earliest slot possible, so we could get some great photos without thousands of tourists in them. It was well worth getting up early to do this, we got a tour that very few people get around the island, seeing some parts that are usually closed off to the public with a very informed tour guide. Fantastic. One of the best tourist activities I’ve ever done, and I’ve done a fair few in my years.

Spent the rest of Saturday walking around San Francisco. It felt good to be back in a cosmopolitan, vibrant city after being stuck in the cultural wasteland that is Reno. And no flashing lights for 3 whole days. It was bliss.

Just chilled out on Saturday night, hung out with Sean and caught up with what had been happening since August. Then some crappy stuff happened… But bleh.

That bummed me out for the rest of the trip to be honest. Sean and I trudged around San Francisco in search of something to do, but both of us were tired, I was zapped and we couldn’t really be bothered. We headed back to Reno, and arrived at Circus Circus at 9pm. I was very glad to be back in familiar surroundings.

And that was that. A bittersweet start to Christmas. I’m over it now, and planning some fun stuff for the next few months. They’re going to be good… :)

I haven’t posted in a while, I’m sorry. Things have been a little hectic. I’m working on some new posts, but for now, here’s a great LOLcat I saw the other day…

This is hilarious! And it’s got Allison Janney (C.J. from The West Wing), Margaret Cho and Jack Black. Watch!

• Wetherspoons Curry Club
• Having money.
• Walking in the rain in Belfast.
• Being able to walk places.
• Decent bars/clubs/pubs. Having a bar in the Student’s Union.
• Non-Starbucks coffee shops. Clements how I miss thee.
• Listening to the radio without commercials.
• Gigs.
• Family. Of course :)
• And friends. Of course :)
• Being able to fly places for £5, instead of $400.
• Accents. In particular Belfast accents. Yeo.
• Maggie May’s fry.
• That weird sense of pride every time I walk past the Lanyon building.
• Pasta bake. Nom. And marmite. And edible fish I know how to cook. 

Photo by Flickr user _SID_

Having seen Baz Lurhmann’s previous films, Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet, I had high hopes for his latest offering “Australia”. Australia doesn’t have the same whirlwind editing that his previous films had, but it does keep the melodramatic emotion.

It doesn’t disappoint. You’ll no doubt hear that it’s long. And at 2 hours and 45 minutes, it is. But it’s never boring. Yes, it’s true that it could have been cut down dramatically - the first 2 hours of the movie are poorly paced, but the visuals and story more than make up for this - it’s enthralling.

Nicole Kidman plays Lady Sarah Ashley, who arrives in Australia to discover that her husband has been murdered, and inherits his cattle farm. She meets The Drover (Hugh Jackman), who helps her to run the farm. A competition between her and the rival cattle farm ensues to secure a contract with the Army.

This film isn’t just a melodrama though, it has a bit of everything - war saga, love story, Western, social-conscious drama, all making it very watchable. And, as usual, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman give stellar performances.

If you get a chance to see this, you should. Having said that, I wouldn’t make a massive effort to if you’re not a fan of Baz Lurhmann’s previous work. It is, after all, fluff.

After the jump, the trailer for Australia.

In my wonderful British ignorance, I knew nothing about Thanksgiving until today. So here’s a few things you UK people probably didn’t know about Thanksgiving…

• It dates back to Harvest festivals, celebrated by loads of cultures at harvest times.
• It’s celebrated on the fourth Thursday of Novemeber.
• In 1691, a Native American with the Wampanoag tribe, taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn, and acted as an interpreter. Then they had a feast.
• Turkey is the traditional centerpiece, hence the alternative name of Turkey Day (which confused me, but thats a story for another blog…).
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held on Thanksgiving morning in New York City, and broadcast live on television.
• American football is a big deal.
• The day after Thanksgiving day, Black Friday, is when stores have sales, and marks the beginning of Christmas shopping season.
• Thanksgiving in 2014 will fall on Thursday, 27th November.
• In an absurd tradition, the President and other high members of office (such as Governor) will “pardon” a turkey. The turkey (and back-up turkey) that the President pardons is flown from Washington DC to California, where it leads the Disneyland Thanksgiving Parade. Cute.

Anyway, I digress. I had a fun Thanksgiving day this year. I went round to my friend Lauren’s and we ate a sensible amount of delicious food. Then we played Taboo, which I rock at, probably because I talk too fast, and because I’m “literal” apparently.

And that was Thanksgiving.

Oh, I found Cadbury’s chocolate as well today in WalMart. Tried some, and it’s actually okay. Not quite like the proper stuff from the UK, but nice enough.

Post deleted… it was a bit bitchy.

Here’s a nice video!

To quote my friend, “where the hell did this chick come from?”. And, to be honest, I have no idea.

I had heard bits about her, though never bothered to look up any of her stuff. Then, I saw an ad on Facebook for her, and I was bored… so I YouTubed her. I first found the video for the track “Just Dance” with it’s infectious baseline and catchy “oh oh oh oh”’s. Then I found “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”, and I was hooked.

Over the last few months, since the release of “Just Dance” in the US, she’s gained quite a cult following - particularly with the gays. This record combines futuristic electronica with catching drumbeats and captivating lyrics that’ll leave you humming tracks for days.

On the surface, her album “The Fame” seems like another dull club-anthem filled record, but it’s so much more than that. Unlike Britney Spears and others, she can actually write music (she wrote the entire album), and from what I’ve seen on YouTube, she can sing live too. She’ll no doubt get comparisons to Gwen Stefani, but Lady GaGa’s offering is much more developed than Stefani’s solo attempts.

The album is ladened with innuendo, with the most obvious one in “LoveGame” - “Lets have some fun / This beat is sick / I wanna take a ride / On your disco stick”. However, this doesn’t mean this is a tacky album - quite the opposite. She takes the usual lyrics about money, boys, celebrity and body image, and makes them into what is a very original album.

If you haven’t already, Lady GaGa is worth checking out.

After the jump, the video for “Just Dance” and a live version of “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”

Virginia City is an odd place.

It’s one of the most famous of the mining boomtowns in the Old West, and lies on the site of the Comstock Lode silver deposit - the first major silver deposit found in the US. The deposit, found in 1859, brought the population of the city to 30,000. However, this dropped when the Comstock Lode ended in 1898.

Virginia City itself is a National Historic Landmark, and as such does not have any chain stores or fast food restaurants. It’s pretty much a ghost town. The city manages to draw about 2 million visitors every year. To be honest, if you travelled far to get here, you might be somewhat disappointed.

There isn’t much in the way of things to do in the city, but it’s a fun place to walk around. There are two main attractions:

• The Suicide Table - located in one (of the many) saloons, the Suicide Table is a poker table where supposedly many people have gambled away their fortunes and killed themselves. Nice.
• The Way It Was Museum - which shuts really early, so we didn’t actually get to go round. I’m sure it’s interesting though.
• … and loads of candy shops, souvenir shops, antique shops and saloons.

Oh! And I almost forgot. Mark Twain started his career as a journalist in Virginia City.

As usual, more photos over on the ‘ole Flickr.

Last weekend a mate and I went on a little road trip to Los Angeles. The drive there from Reno, down the SIerra Highway, is absolutely stunning, really beautiful. The highway takes you through the Sierra Nevada mountains, which were covered in snow, set against a perfect blue sky backdrop. We also passed by numerous lakes, such as June Lake, Mono Lake and the Mammoth Lakes, as well as going through towns such as Bishop, Lone Pine (where numerous Westerns have been filmed), and the Mojave desert. The highest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mt. Whitney (14, 505 ft), is also on the drive.

Then we got to Lancaster, CA, the ninth fastest growing town in the US, and our place to stay for the night. Went out for a nice meal to some Mexican place, and found a place to stay (eventually). Had a good nights sleep before our day in LA…

Woke up fairly early so we could get on the road and see as much of LA as we could, and got ourselves a copy of the Lonely Planet guide to California. However, as we were driving along Hwy 5 to LA, we noticed some smoke over the hills. Uh-oh. LA county being somewhat infamous for its wildfires, we feared the worst. And we were right, We got massively diverted and ended up driving for many more hours than we should have done. In the end we didn’t get to see much of LA, but we did go to Santa Monica, and drove through Hollywood, and then to Pomona to the party we were going to.

Santa Monica lies on the coast of LA county, west of LA city. I was shocked at how hot it was down there, 90F! In the middle of November! But anyway, Santa Monica was nice, I guess I’d describe it as an American Brighton - it has a pier and good shopping and food (though the service was a bit bad).

Then we went drove through Hollywood, on the way to Pomona. Again, we didn’t see much of that either, due to a massive Prop 8 demonstration. And then Pomona - don’t remember much of that.

Woke up on Sunday morning with surprisingly little of a hangover, off to Denny’s (my first trip to Denny’s might I add, and hopefully not my last!) to refuel before the long drive back home…

So, overall, a fantastic weekend! 

More photos over on my Flickr.

via Towleroad

Honestly, this is one of the most moving things I’ve seen in a long while, and certainly something I never thought I’d see on US television.

I don’t really need to say anymore.

Just watch.

The transcript after the jump…

Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.

Some parameters, as preface. This isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics, and this isn’t really just about Prop-8. And I don’t have a personal investment in this: I’m not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics.

This is about the… human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not… understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don’t want to deny you yours. They don’t want to take anything away from you. They want what you want — a chance to be a little less alone in the world.

Only now you are saying to them — no. You can’t have it on these terms. Maybe something similar. If they behave. If they don’t cause too much trouble. You’ll even give them all the same legal rights — even as you’re taking away the legal right, which they already had. A world around them, still anchored in love and marriage, and you are saying, no, you can’t marry. What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn’t marry?

I keep hearing this term “re-defining” marriage.

If this country hadn’t re-defined marriage, black people still couldn’t marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal… in 1967. 1967.

The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn’t have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it’s worse than that. If this country had not “re-defined” marriage, some black people still couldn’t marry…black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child. Their marriage vows were different: not “Until Death, Do You Part,” but “Until Death or Distance, Do You Part.” Marriages among slaves were not legally recognized.

You know, just like marriages today in California are not legally recognized, if the people are… gay.

And uncountable in our history are the number of men and women, forced by society into marrying the opposite sex, in sham marriages, or marriages of convenience, or just marriages of not knowing — centuries of men and women who have lived their lives in shame and unhappiness, and who have, through a lie to themselves or others, broken countless other lives, of spouses and children… All because we said a man couldn’t marry another man, or a woman couldn’t marry another woman. The sanctity of marriage. How many marriages like that have there been and how on earth do they increase the “sanctity” of marriage rather than render the term, meaningless?

What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don’t you, as human beings, have to embrace… that love? The world is barren enough.

It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.

And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?

With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate… this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness — this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness — share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

—

You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of…love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate. You don’t have to help it, you don’t have it applaud it, you don’t have to fight for it. Just don’t put it out. Just don’t extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don’t know and you don’t understand and maybe you don’t even want to know…It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow **person…

Just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.

This is the second time in ten days I find myself concluding by turning to, of all things, the closing plea for mercy by Clarence Darrow in a murder trial.

But what he said, fits what is really at the heart of this:

“I was reading last night of the aspiration of the old Persian poet, Omar-Khayyam,” he told the judge.

“It appealed to me as the highest that I can vision. I wish it was in my heart, and I wish it was in the hearts of all:

“So I be written in the Book of Love;

“I do not care about that Book above.

“Erase my name, or write it as you will,

“So I be written in the Book of Love.”

—

Good night, and good luck.

And they weren’t very fair. Predictably, they only showed the rubbish casino area around 4th Street. But it’s a funny video anyway!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhH5wqFfoWc (the poster disabled embedding, so you’ll have to click through to see it…)

A few quotes from the clip…

…Reno, which is like Las Vegas, only small. And worse. It’s a town with lightbulbs on it.

What an appalling cack hole.

Aww, poor Reno…

Here’s a funny tune from the film Reno 911! : Miami…

Lyrics after the jump…

Oh! Biggest little city in the World.
300,000 strong.
Kick it!

People knock Reno ‘cos it ain’t Las Vegas
Disrespect the town that I know is the greatest
And when these naysayers try to knock the place
I say, “get up out my face I’m from America’s adventure place”

bom bom bom bom bom
Get up get down you know I’m proud of Reno
What what what we say
We’re keeping it alive in the 775

They’ve got a fake Eiffel Tower
We got world class winter sports
You can keep Fremont Street
I’ll take Virginia and Fourth
And let me clear this up ‘cos some people don’t know
Yes we do have an airport, it’s called Reno slash Tahoe
Some people take trips or family vacations
To Phoenix or Branson, other hot spots in the nation.
But if you’re on a budget forget Aspen Colorado
Because the kid’s buffet is free at the Reno El Dorado

Bom bom bom bom bom
Get up get down you know I’m proud of Reno
What what what we say
Am I in heaven?
No sir, you’re in the 89507

We go Reno, Sun-Valley, Truckee and Sparks
Got the bowling hall of fame
Senior programs in the park
So bring your family and your doggies that bark
‘Cos 2/3 of Washoe County’s pretty safe now after dark
For table gaming and conventions Reno is the bomb
And hold ‘em games are as rapid as Reno.com
And I won’t even start with our world famous golf courses
‘Cos my voice is getting hoarse and i think we’re at the chorus
Oh!

Bom bom bom bom bom
Get up get down you know I’m proud of Reno
What what what we say
We’re keeping it alive in the 775

Yo, big up Arlington Avenue
Big ups Manner Drive

He did it. Barack Obama has been elected the next President of the United States.

And I couldn’t be happier. I’ve followed this election since it began about 2 years ago, through the Primaries and then to the real campaigning. I was even lucky enough to arrive in the US just as it was hotting up, and got to see Obama twice when he came to Reno. 

Back home I was fairly politically minded, but to be honest, politics at home in dull. In England, we’re used to boring old men in suits, and they all seem as bad as each other, with no massive differences in their policies - basically wanting to bring everything down to the lowest common denominator. And they’re certainly not inspirational or charismatic.

In Northern Ireland it’s even worse. Most people are even more disengaged from the political process because of what politics has caused. Politics means sectarianism, violence, anger and graffiti, and as a result, most people steer clear.

However, American politics is completely different. With vast amounts of money being poured into this election, estimated at around $2.5 billion, this campaign was enthralling. I can only comment from my experience of Obama rallies, but having been to a few, he truly is inspiring -from the way his speeches are written so that the crowd is roused up, let down for a bit, then roused up again to the careful selection of music, always ending in Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours”.

It’s fantastic to see America get over the race issue (even if it couldn’t get over the gay issue), and hopefully during the next 4 years, we’ll begin to see a change.

After the jump, in case you missed it, is Obama’s victory speech, delivered in front of 124,000 people in Grant Park, Chicago.

Photo via Flickr user JBVFromFK.

Heck, it’s been long enough!

Here’s her new song, Don’t Believe in Love, and it’s pretty good.

Dido’s new album, Safe Trip Home is out November 17th.

After the jump, my favourite Dido song, Take My Hand, live at Brixton Academy.